


Dance with me tonight

by Serpent_Fangs



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Grief, Hugs, Lots of Crying, Spoiler alert she doesn't actually die, Tea, a very cold graveyard, some dancing, the ending is cute and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serpent_Fangs/pseuds/Serpent_Fangs
Summary: Kuvira dies after the final battle against Baatar Junior...or does she? (SPOILER ALERT: She doesn't but everyone thinks she does) Not as miserable as it sounds.
Relationships: Korra/Kuvira (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	Dance with me tonight

**Author's Note:**

> So basically imagine Baatar Junior and Kuvira swapped roles, he continues to try and destroy Republic city and Zaofu and all that lot but Kuvira is with the good guys and is dating Korra.

It was over. They had finally won. Baatar Junior was going to prison for his fascist dictation (and for nearly destroying the entire city)

Everyone had regrouped at the new glowing spirit portal and they were all celebrating their win. Asami and Mako were reunited (despite Mako looking a little frazzled after his near death encounter in Baatar’s war robot.) Bolin and opal were also together and everyone was cheering with excitement and relief. All except Korra.

She pushed her way through the crowd of friends that surrounded her looking for one person and one person only.

Kuvira.

She couldn’t find her, out of all the people around her she couldn’t see the one person she wanted to. She needed to know that Kuvira was safe so when she’d called out for her and looked for her for 30 minutes she started to panic.

She decided to search through the rubble and asked Asami, Lin and Bolin to help her. They all agreed immediately and began sweeping the area, calling the metalbender’s name and turning each piece of rock and rubble to find her.

“Kuvira?” Korra shouted and her heart wrenched when yet again she received no response.

She could hear Asami and Bolin echo her call not too far away and she listened for the faintest noise or cry for help from the metalbender.

A hand on her shoulder made her leap out of her skin and she turned to see Lin looking at her, face drained of colour and as pale as snow.

“Korra…” She croaked and she held out a shaking hand, when she opened the Avatar felt her heart drop like a stone.

It was the small pendant that she’d given Kuvira as a thank you for teaching her how to metalbend, when she’d given it to her she thought the older girl was going to cry and she’d worn it ever since. A day hadn’t gone by when she hadn’t worn it, it had become part of Kuvira and now…it was in Lin’s hand.

Korra gently took the necklace from Lin and held it close to her chest as she crumpled to her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks and sobs racking her body. Lin knelt by her and rubbed her back soothingly until Asami and Bolin found them both and realised what had happened.

They wrapped their arms around Korra on the floor and hugged her tightly until her sobs had turned into sniffles and she eventually stopped crying.

Her eyes were red and tired and her heart felt empty as she slowly walked back to their friends and family by the spirit portal. Silence fell among the group as they saw the sombre looks on their faces and the tears still streaming down Korra’s face.

Lin cleared her throat and stepped forward to speak to everyone.

“Unfortunately I have some…bad news to share with you all.” She said quietly and she felt tears start to well in her eyes.

“Kuvira…didn’t…Kuvira didn’t…she…” the police chief’s voice cracked as a lump rose in her throat and her voice wobbled, betraying her emotions. Kya slipped her hand into Lin’s, reassuring her and prompting her to continue.

“Kuvira didn’t…she didn’t make it…I’m so sorry.” She choked before she wiped her eyes and sniffed, trying to hold back her sadness.

Korra couldn’t, she broke down again, sobbing hysterically as she curled up into a ball and the floor, clutching the necklace close to her.

The faces of the group fell and Suyin went pale clutching Tenzin’s arm as her knees wobbled slightly and she felt faint with shock.

“No.” She murmured, looking at Lin, hoping that she was lying.

“No, no, no this can’t…this can’t be true…she’s strong…she’s so strong, she can’t be…” The older woman grappled looking at her sister for some reassurance but Lin could give none as she stepped forward and hugged Suyin for the first time in years.

Tears slid down the woman’s cheeks as she gripped the back of the Police Chief’s uniform and cried quietly into her shoulder.

Although Su’s relationship with Kuvira had been rocky in places she had loved the girl dearly, if not more so than her actual child Baatar Jr. It was wrong of her, she knew that but she saw so much of herself in Kuvira that she just couldn’t help it.

She’d never told Kuvira that she was a daughter to her for fear of upsetting Baatar but oh how she wished she had. Maybe that was why they’d argued so much, Kuvira must’ve felt so unloved by the woman who was supposed to be her mother, it must have hurt her so much and now Su could never tell her. She could never hug her, never tell her how proud of her she was, she could never say ‘I love you’.

Suyin couldn’t comprehend the guilt she felt wash over her, drowning her thoughts and she sobbed into her sister shoulder.

Her daughter was dead and there was _nothing_ she could do.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Korra felt numb. Her head was fuzzy with emotion and her face tingled but everything else was just numb. She didn’t cry anymore, she’d stopped crying three weeks after Kuvira had…passed (and she still couldn’t bring herself to say _that_ word) and now she spent her days at the grave they’d made, sitting, hoping and praying that someone would find the body. The clean up in the city was well underway but had a long way to go before it would be finished.

Today it was snowing when she took Naga to the graveyard (the only person still willing to walk with her there.) and Korra wore her usual water tribe attire with no coat, after all she had grown up in the Arctic. Of course this outfit was accessorised with the small pendant necklace that Korra had worn since the fateful day Lin had handed it to her three weeks ago. She slept in it, bathed in it, trained in it, the weight of the metal becoming one of the only comforts she still had.

Kuvira’s passing had effected everyone in ways that none of them could quite understand. They weren’t sure why it saddened them so much as many hardly knew her but it truly hurt them all so they’d all made a few adjustments to accommodate the loss.

Zhu Li and Varrick had pushed their wedding back, Asami and Mako decided to stay in the city with for Korra for a little bit, Suyin was hardly seen and had stopped teaching her classes, Lin had buried herself in her work and Korra…Korra was just a shell of her former self.

Her heart throbbed when she thought of the metalbender and Korra couldn’t believe that she was really… _not alive_. Kuvira had been such a constant, sold existence in her life and now she was just…gone. 

The thing that hurt Korra most is that she had, had a plan yet it could never come to fruition with the older girl gone. It had been a simple plan: Win the battle, find Kuvira and tell her you love her.They’d been dating for a couple of months but they hadn’t said it yet, Korra was going to say it once they’d one but now she never could. All she had left of her lover was memories. She remembered the moments they shared fondly but couldn’t dwell on them for fear of crying again. Korra was convinced that if she started crying again, she’d never stop.

She’d started growing her hair out again, Kuvira had always loved it long. It now fell below her shoulders and was only a few weeks off of its original length. She gently ran her fingers through it and shivered uncomfortably as she remembered all the times the metalbender had run her hands through her hair.

No matter what she did it was like she was always there, everything reminded Korra of her, she just missed her...so _damn_ much…and it was so _fucking_ unfair, she’d done so much for everyone else, as the Avatar that was her duty, but she wondered why she even bothered when the world only ever hurt her.

A wet nose pressed against her cheek and Korra was shaken out of her thoughts by Naga who was now dusted with snow and looking at Korra with big puppy-dog eyes, begging her to go home. Believe it or not Kuvira was the queen of puppy-dog eyes, if she looked at Korra like that then the Avatar would do anything for her.

Mentally kicking herself for thinking of the metalbender again, Korra stood to go, taking one last look at the headstone with her lover’s name on it.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Suyin and Korra spent more time together now, finding a deeper connection between them after Kuvira’s passing. They’d go for walks together (but not to the graveyard, Suyin wouldn’t go there yet.) and they’d have tea and reflect on all aspects of the metalbender. It was a way for them both to remember her with fondness and gave them both a sense of peace that they got from nowhere else. It was one afternoon when she was talking to Suyin that Korra felt again. They were discussing Kuvira’s stubbornness (a lengthy topic) and reflecting on the past.

“It nearly killed me trying to convince her to learn to dance. She was so against the idea and it took me months to get her to come to a class.” Suyin said with a small smile as she sipped her tea and Korra felt a flutter of warmth in her chest.

“She was such a great dancer too, once she’d started she surpassed all the other kids within a few weeks.” The old woman reminisced and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Korra smiled for the first time in weeks and Su couldn’t help but stare. She hadn’t shown any emotion since Kuvira’s end and the smile was an unusual sight.

“Y’know Su, you taught her well. She used your lessons to show me how to dance for that fancy gala we had to go to. We’d been waltzing in one of the studios and the music had just finished so she dipped me. I was so shocked that all I could do was stare at her with my arms wrapped around her neck. It was such a… _magical_ moment…I didn’t think it could get any better than that.” Korra said, still smiling but staring off into the distance as if she could see the memory. Her eyes were slowly filling as she remembered that day, her heart wrenching in her chest.

“And then she kissed me.” Her voice wobbled and she could feel that all familiar lump rising in her throat whilst tears threatened to spill from her brimming eyes.

“It was the perfect first kiss, butterflies in my stomach, both of our hearts pounding and then we felt that…that spark…the one you only hear about in stories. The fireworks that no one believes exist. We felt it and from that moment on we knew. We were meant to be together. Forever.” She sniffled as tears flowed freely down her cheeks, her voice cracking as she spoke. “But I guess the world had other plans” She choked and Suyin placed her hand over Korra’s squeezing it tightly as the girl collapsed forward, sobs racking her body once more.

The older woman hugged her as tightly as she could, murmuring reassurance to her and rubbing her back soothingly. They stayed like that for a while until the Avatar’s cries had stopped. When they pulled apart she looked up at the old woman with a heartbroken look on her face.

“Why does it hurt so much?” She said between cries and Su placed a gentle hand on her cheek.

“Because it was real.”

\-------------------------------------------------------

Korra was at the graveyard again, sat on the bench in front of Kuvira’s headstone. She’d visited everyday for the past six weeks but today it felt different, she felt unsettled, it didn’t bring her the peace it usually did. Maybe it’s because naga wasn’t with her, the polar bear dog had long since stopped going with Korra as it was too cold for her to sit in the snow for so long. Many strangers had wandered past whilst she’d been sat there, more than usual, maybe that was why she felt so uneasy.

“Is this seat taken?”

Korra felt sick, the woman beside her sounded just like Kuvira and now this woman wanted to sit next to her.

The Avatar shook her head despite her obvious discomfort but she didn’t look at the woman, instead feeling her presence as she sat beside her.

They both stared at Kuvira’s grave until Korra felt the urge to speak to the stranger.

“I loved her, I _still_ love her.”

Warm fingers intertwined with Korra’s and she looked at the stranger in shock. The woman had the hood of her coat up so the Avatar couldn’t see her face but a long black braid came out of the hood and went all the way down her chest.

“She loves you too.” The woman whispered and she turned to face Korra with a small smile on her lips, she then pulled her hood down to reveal her face.

“Hey baby, I’ve missed you.”

Korra reached her tanned fingers out to touch the soft pink cheeks of the woman before her and gasped when she felt her skin.

“You’re…I…how?”

The older girl smiled and leant forward to kiss Korra but a loud _smack_ echoed through the graveyard. Kuvira winced at the red handprint now forming on her cheek.

“I may have deserved that, but no-“

_Smack_

“Ok that’s fair, I want yo-“

_Smack_

“Again, fair enough b-“

_Smack_

“Yep…also deserved that. Are you done?”

“WHAT THE FUCK KUVIRA?!”

The metalbender winced as Korra yelled at her.

“WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! I HAVE GRIEVED YOU FOR SIX AND A HALF WEEKS!”

Kuvira held Korra’s hands still so she couldn’t slap her again and looked at the younger girl regretfully.

“Korra I’ve been recovering. I got impaled when we fought Baatar Junior and was found by some locals who took me into their care. I was practically unconscious for a month and the past two weeks I’ve been on bedrest, hardly allowed to walk or move but now thanks to spirit water I’m ok and fitter than I ever was before.”

Korra didn’t say anything so Kuvira continued.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t reach out sooner and I’m so sorry for the pain you’ve gone through, I really truly am. I love you. I love you so much Korra.”

The silence was deafening as Kuvira waited for a response from Korra who simply stared at her as if trying to figure her out until finally the Avatar surged forwards and pressed her lips to the metalbender’s with pure desperation, hope and relief.

Her hands were all over Kuvira, around her neck, on her face, in her hair, just trying to feel all the shapes of her face that she’d forgotten.

When they briefly pulled apart for air Korra had just enough time to say “I love you too.” Before her lips were back on her lover’s and they kissed in a way that was completely inappropriate in a graveyard but they didn’t care.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Suyin hadn’t cried so much in her entire life as when she saw Kuvira again. She’d hugged her and kissed her hair as she’d cried onto her. She told her how proud of her she was, that she was such a wonderful daughter and that she loved her.

Kuvira was so stunned that all she could do was hug the old woman back and bury her face in her clothes hoping to hide her tears of joy. That was the first time Su had told her she loved her. Kuvira liked it. She liked it a lot.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Korra was the only one who had seen the scar. A massive slash mark was burnt into Kuvira’s abs, spanning most of her stomach, where she’d been impaled.

Korra ran her fingers over it and kissed it and she swore to protect Kuvira from ever experiencing anything like that again. To be honest the metalbender didn’t really mind, she was more enthralled with the vision of her pendant around Korra’s neck. When she asked the Avatar about it she only blushed and explained that she’d kept it to remember her by to which Kuvira responded that she’d ‘fuck her so hard that she’d never be able to forget’. Korra had to admit she’d never been more turned on.

\-------------------------------------------------------

It was at Zhu Li and Varrick’s wedding that Korra realised something. They were dancing and although the tan woman said she had two left feet when it came to dancing, she was keeping up with Kuvira beautifully and they were gracing the dancefloor with their movements. The song came to a close and then with a sly smirk on her face Kuvira dipped her, staring intently into Korra’s ocean blue eyes that matched her beautiful dress. Korra was once again stunned and she wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck, resting them on the collar of her suit jacket. It was a truly _magical_ moment.

Then Kuvira kissed her.

And it was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and as always feel free to leave comments, kudos and feedback! 
> 
> Until next time my cinnamon buns uwu


End file.
